Best Bets For Chester May Festival – Day One Wednesday 10th May 2017

The Boodles May Festival on the Roodee Chester is the main event this week with Chester Cup Day getting proceedings underway on Wednesday. It’s no news to anyone who has ever had a punt at Chester before but the draw can be crucial here, even for the longer races. The left handed almost circular course is nearly always on the turn throughout and it also has a short run-in of under two furlongs; you nearly always want to be up with or at worse just off the pace as trying to come from behind here can lead to all sorts of trouble.

I quietly fancied Alluringly for the Listed Cheshire Oaks at 2.25 over 1m3f and was happy to see she has the two stall. You had to be taken with the way she won her maiden at Tipperary on the 20th April and she should be able to sit-in just behind the pace nicely positioned. The stable are of course in fine form and are looking for a third successive win in this, Diamondsandrubies and Somehow have been the last two winning favourites for the Ballydoyle team. They usually have more than a winner or two at this meeting and in fact Aidan O’Brien has a strike-rate at the track all-time of 40%+. Grab a bit of the 13-8 with Betfred. My biggest concern is this is the fastest ground she has run on, I can’t see Rich Legacy being able to give these 5lb so Enable is feared most.

The grey Watersmeet is one of the few that looks fairly treated in the handicap for the Chester Cup over 2m2f at 3.35. He arrives off the back of two decent performances over two-mile on the all-weather and is in fact due to rise a further 5lb in the OR’s after this; Winning Story who he has been trading blows with in those two races now doesn’t line-up. Drawn in six he usually front runs or sits just in behind which is exactly where you want to be in this as they go round twice and as long as Franny Norton doesn’t get dizzy hopefully they can kick for home off the final turn and leave the others trailing. He hasn’t won on turf for nearly two years which is a niggling concern but that was on good-firm and as you can get 10-1 with Hills I would say get on as that may look huge come the finish.

There is nothing for me out in Hong Kong Happy Valley today.

Be lucky